The United States hopes Ukraine's intention to free 15 militants will give Russia a boost in terms of implementation of the Minsk agreements reached in Belarus in February 2015.

As reported by Censor.NET, this is stated in readout of Vice President Biden's calls with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Hroisman.

The vice president voiced strong support for the Ukrainian government's decision to unilaterally release 15 individuals taken prisoner during the conflict, expressing hope that Russia and Russian-backed separatists would respond in kind to this goodwill gesture and give momentum to the prisoner exchange process stipulated in the Minsk agreements.

The leaders reiterated their unwavering support for full implementation of the Minsk agreements and underscored the need to reinstitute a full cease-fire and ensure full access for OSCE monitors to enable further disengagement of forces along the line of contact in the Donbas.

As reported, before Dec. 21, Ukraine intends to release 15 out of 228 individuals taken prisoner during the conflict in Ukraine's east, whose swap was requested by "DPR" and "LPR".

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